Cop Appeal (5 page)

She wondered briefly at his insistence that
they leave the house, but got distracted when he offered to give
her a ride on his motorcycle. He didn’t have a helmet, so he
wouldn’t take her farther than the deli, but even that short ride
was exhilarating.

Pressed tight against him, she wrapped her
arms around his waist, squeezing him tight and loving the feel of
his muscular butt jammed between her thighs. She closed her eyes,
swaying with him when he turned the bike, their movements smooth.
In sync. Natural. The cool night air was a wonderful contrast to
the heat still pulsing through her, and when they got to the deli,
she had to force herself not to beg him to keep going. To take her
someplace far away. Someplace where they could be alone, with no
ex-husband to worry about, no responsibility to interrupt them, and
no insecurities to plague her.

They
were
plaguing her.

They taunted her with old fears that while
the sex was spectacular, sooner or later he’d realize he could do
far better than
Sure-Thing-Sarah
.

But this time, she refused to let her fears
control her. Get over it, she mentally snapped. Maybe he’d get
tired of her. Maybe he wouldn’t.

You finally stood up to Richard
.
Fight for what you want, damn it.

She wanted Luke.

Resolved to enjoy her time with him, she
forced herself to take some risks. When they got off the
motorcycle, she reached out and took his hand, basking in his
smile. At the deli, he plied her with wine and dessert in addition
to the sandwich, and she used the opportunity to feed him. When
they returned to her place, she was feeling mellow and lazy, and
she wanted nothing more than to explore his body from head to toe
at her leisure. To
show
him how much she loved him, even if
she wasn’t ready to say it.

She made her request.

“Sounds good to me,” he said.

He stretched out on her bed and literally
let her feast on him. He’d done the same thing a few other times in
the past, and she’d always relished every second of it. It was
her
turn to be in control. To do as she pleased with this
strong, masculine creature who normally didn’t let anyone or
anything dominate him.

She
controlled where she touched him.
How hard and how light.

Whether she used her fingers or mouth.

Whether she used her body, pressing her
breasts into his mouth or rubbing her core against his leg while he
moaned and begged for mercy.

She ordered him to suck her nipples, softly
at first then harder, even urging him to use his teeth a couple of
times, which he did with the utmost of care.

She decided how shallow or deep to take him
inside her mouth, and if he made the mistake of arching his hips
and trying to push more of himself down her throat, she’d be the
one to smack his ass, then she’d punish him by “making” him
pleasure her with his mouth. With his tongue. On her clit. In her
pussy. Once even in her ass again.

When he was desperate to have her, she
teased him some more.

She ordered him to fist and stroke himself
in front of her. She loved the slow, sure way he handled his thick
cock. The way his big hand engulfed his engorged length, masculine
against masculine, in a way her smaller fingers never could. But
she wouldn’t let him get off that way, not even when he accused her
of being a merciless bitch. As he worked himself into a state of
nirvana, she cupped his balls, rolling them gently in her palm and
occasionally licking them. She waited until the last possible
second, when he looked crazed with his desire for her, and then she
took his dick gently in her mouth and sucked him for all she was
worth.

He emptied himself into her with grunts and
curses and animalistic moans. Afterwards, he told her it was worth
the wait.

And then he gathered her in his arms,
wrapped himself around her, and completed a ritual she’d
desperately missed.

He kissed her forehead.

He kissed her mouth.

He said, “You, Sarah Larson, are my
everything.”

And then, once again, he held her while she
fell asleep.

The next morning, a knock on Sarah’s front
door roused her from sleep. Next to her, the bed was empty, but the
running shower assured her that Luke hadn’t fled in the middle of
the night. Lazily, she stretched and admired the way he’d marked
her body the day before. There were small bruises on her thighs
from where he’d held her open, and scrapes from his five-o-clock
shadow lingered nearby. She had red splotches on her breasts and
stomach where he’d suckled and laved her pale skin until she’d
thought she’d die from the pleasure. She ran her hands over her
body, still tingling with the aftershocks of the orgasms he’d
pushed on her, again and again throughout the long night.

Another knock, this time loud enough to make
her frown. Remembering, she covered her mouth to stifle her
gasp.

Richard.

What if
he
was knocking on her door?
What if Richard had seen her with Luke? On his bike? At the deli?
He was crazy anyway, but she knew the sight of her with her former
lover would drive him beyond crazy and into sociopath mode. What
if—

“…police department…”

Over her accelerated heartbeat, rapid
breathing, and the sound of the shower, she thought she heard the
person at her door announce he was with the police. Of course,
Richard was with the police, too, but he wouldn’t announce himself
that way to her.

Quickly, she threw on fresh panties, a tank,
and a different pair of sweats, padded to the front door, which
she’d thankfully locked, and looked through the peephole.
“Detective James?”

She opened the door and stared at him. He
was as breathtakingly handsome as the first time she’d seen him.
His silky hair was dark but threaded with mahogany strands no salon
could replicate. Not overly tall, he was leanly muscled and would
likely be as swift and dexterous as a jungle cat. Appropriately
enough, his eyes tilted with a slightly feline slant, glowing with
warmth. His sharp features radiated confidence that definitely
bordered on arrogance.

“I wasn’t expecting you. Is something
wrong?” She glanced over her shoulder to make sure Luke was still
in the shower or at least out of earshot. “Is Richard—”

The detective shook his head. “No, Sarah.
Like I told you earlier, everything’s fine.” His gaze drifted to
her chest and then wandered lower.

There was definitely a slow simmer in his
amber eyes that hadn’t been there before. She blushed, which seemed
to startle him.

He cleared his throat. “I’m actually here to
see Luke.”

Her eyes rounded with shock. He knew Luke?
Knew Luke was
here
? “I don’t understand. How do you—”

“Oh good. You’re here.” Luke strode up
behind her, his hair mussed, his body smelling of her favorite
liquid soap, and a towel wrapped around his waist. Gently, he
nudged her aside to shake Detective James’ hand. He scowled down at
her. “You shouldn’t have answered the door. While I’m here, I’ll do
that.”

“Why wouldn’t I answer my own door?” she
shot back. “What the hell’s going on here? How do you two know each
other?”

“Noah and I are old friends. We have been
since the academy.”

In her periphery, she saw Noah James step
inside and shut the door, then absently rub the back of his neck as
he took unprecedented interest in a watercolor hanging on the wall.
Hands on his hips, Luke shook his head at her—a movement that
caused his towel to slip precariously low. “Come on, Sarah. You
didn’t seriously think I’d buy that ‘It was just an old friend,’
bullshit you gave me after Noah called, did you?”

Sarah gasped.

The corners of his mouth turned upward.
“While you were in the shower yesterday, I simply checked your
Caller ID, dialed Noah back, and got the low down on what’s been
going on.”

Outraged, she turned to Noah, who still
studied the watercolor like his life depended on it. “That’s
completely unprofessional! You had no business telling him.”

Luke swung her around, his grip on her arm
inescapable. “You should have told me yourself. Damn it, when Noah
told me how Richard’s been terrorizing you, I wanted to kill him,
then spank your ass for keeping it from me. Only we both know you’d
enjoy that last part way to much.”

Her face turned red. “Luke,” she squeaked
out. Sure enough, a glance at Detective James confirmed he’d heard
Luke’s little revelation and found it amusing.

She didn’t know what infuriated her more,
the fact that he’d just told Detective James that she liked her ass
spanked, or that it had provoked an enormous flutter between her
thighs. “You know, the two of you can just get the hell out of
here. I don’t need either one of you—”

Finally, Noah turned toward her. “You’re
wrong, Sarah. You do need us. Me to make sure Richard stays away
from you. Luke for the same thing. I can’t protect you during
personal hours. At least, not for the most part…”

The silence in the room was deafening.

“What?” she breathed faintly. Her eyes
sought out Luke, who was glaring at Noah.

“Smooth, Noah, really smooth,” Luke
said.

The other man just shrugged his muscular
shoulders, then removed his sport coat and tossed it on her
couch.

Sarah stared at it slack-jawed. “Staying
long?” she growled.

The detective tried not to smile and failed
miserably. “I don’t suppose I could get a cup of coffee?”

Her frosty glare conveyed her answer.

“That’s okay,
precioso
,” he grinned.
“I don’t need the caffeine anyway.”

Precioso
? Had he really just called
her
precious
? In front of
Luke
?

But Luke just asked, “Did you put the tail
on Richard?”

“We’ve had one on him since last night. He’s
in Orange County at the moment. Getting his back waxed at some
frou-frou salon,” Noah sneered. “
Sustantivo
.”

Sarah glanced at Luke, who translated for
her. “He called him a wimp.”

Noah held up his cell. “My man will call me
as soon as Walters even thinks about returning to Palm
Springs.”

“Good.”

Hands on her hips, Sarah gritted out, “Will
someone tell me what’s going on here?”

Luke studied her so long she actually
started to squirm. Then, with a sigh, he reached for her hand,
carried it to his mouth, and kissed it. “Give us a second here,
will you, Noah?”

“Why don’t I help myself to a glass of
agua
…” Noah said, then stepped out of view into her kitchen.
She heard a cabinet door open and close. The faucet ran as Noah
presumably filled a glass.

“Listen to me, baby. I don’t want you to
think Noah or I take your safety lightly, but Richard can’t get to
you right now. He can’t take a piss without us knowing about it.
Believe me, you and I are going to talk about the fact you didn’t
tell me what was going on with him…later.” He raised his hand to
forestall her protest. “But for now…I heard how you sounded when
Noah called. I saw your expression.”

“And?” she prompted, even though she had an
idea where this was going.

Bending down, Luke nuzzled her ear. “He
turns you on, doesn’t he?” he whispered.

She shook her head. “No! Of course not.
D-did you ask him here for…for
that
? I’m going to kill you,
Luke.” She jerked away and tried to yank her hand out of his, but
he held on. Something—or someone—bumped into her from behind, and
suddenly she found herself sandwiched between two of the hottest
men she’d ever met. It should have been panic or outrage she felt,
not the heady tidal wave of desire that threatened to sweep her
away.

“In case there’s any doubt, I want you,
Sarah,” Noah whispered in the same ear Luke had spoken into, his
breath hot and his slight accent even hotter. “I’ve discussed it
with Luke, and I want to pleasure you.
Sin compromiso
. No
strings attached.”

She shivered and a sizzle ran straight
between her legs, causing her to grow even wetter. “This is
insane.” She laughed nervously. “You guys are cops!”

“This isn’t about Noah’s job, baby. He’ll
protect you from Richard. I’m going to make damn sure of it. But he
can give you more. So can I. More than I’ve ever given you before.
I want you to experience that. How about it? You said you’d do all
the nasty things I wanted you to. How about letting Noah join us?
Right here. Right now.”

“No,” she said, but even she could tell her
protest sounded weak. Noah’s hand rubbed along the waistband of her
sweats and she struggled for sanity in a world where everyone had
gone mad. “I can’t believe you had him show up like this. That you
just called him and you both expect me to—to…” To what? To give
herself over to them so they could pleasure her in every way
imaginable? No strings attached?

She hadn’t truly believed him, she realized.
Part of her had never really taken Luke’s offer of a threesome
seriously. But, quite obviously, he’d been dead serious. He said he
wanted to give her that experience.
Wanted
her to feel that
kind of mind-boggling pleasure, which would in turn pleasure
him.

The guy was just too good to be true.

Only he really
was
that good.

Her old insecurities raised their ugly head,
threatening to swamp her, but she refused to give them credence. At
least for now.

Luke might be good, but he was also very,
very bad. In all the best ways, of course.

But what if this was a trick? What if he
just wanted to see how far
Sure-Thing-Sarah
would go?

She jerked when Luke’s mouth took hers, a
short nipping kiss that brought her abruptly back to the present.
“This isn’t something you have to think so hard about, Sarah. We
just want to pleasure you, nothing more, I promise. Now say yes and
let Noah and me get started.”